Chapter 269 Let the Data Speak

What has Director Lü seen?

Have you seen the technique this child was talking about, or the actual restored object?

Lu Chenglong sighed: He had never seen either of these two types before; he had only seen the video restoration.

But it was even more shocking to him than seeing the actual object.

Because the restoration process of copper enamel in the video is exactly the same as the craftsmanship of the Palace Museum's metal restoration laboratory: whether it is the kiln temperature, the control of the re-firing process, or the techniques of cloisonné and enameling.

The restoration process for blue and white porcelain is even more advanced: the techniques and methods demonstrated by Lin Sicheng in the video are more advanced than those of the Palace Museum!

To give an analogy: it's like climbing a mountain, the two of them are walking the same path. The Forbidden City is about halfway up the mountain, but Lin Sicheng is already close to the summit.

But no matter how you look at it, it's an incredibly incredible thing, even impossible.

The reason is simple: this is a traditional craft, a purely manual job. The focus of the craft has never been on data, information, or science and technology, but rather on experience and skill.

Even if I give you all the information and explain all the process steps clearly, without decades of practical experience and accumulation, even if you copy it exactly, what you'll produce will only be a mishmash, and what you'll add will only be a pile of waste.

But look at Lin Sicheng's age, twenty-one?

Is it enough to start practicing from the womb?

Let alone doing a better job than a group of researchers in their fifties, sixties, seventies, or eighties?

Compared to that, today's scene is just a small one: last October, when Wang Qizhi sent the video to the Palace Museum, asking the experts for their feedback, a group of veteran experts immediately erupted in controversy.

It's no exaggeration to say that Wang Qizhi almost got beaten up back then.

After watching the video, Mr. Geng Baochang (born in 1922, a scholar of ancient ceramics and calligraphy, a national treasure-level expert, and a student of Sun Yingzhou) pointed at his nose and scolded him: "Instructor?"

Are you fucking showing off?

Therefore, from that time on, Director Lü had a very deep impression of Lin Sicheng.

Last week, the bureau notified him that there would be a lecture on Monday. When he saw that the speaker's institution was the "Northwest University Cultural Relics Protection and Restoration Center", he guessed that it was Lin Sicheng.

He agreed at the time, and when he entered the venue today, he found out that it was indeed true.

With a sigh, Director Lü pointed to the stage and said, "Teachers, don't look at me, watch the lecture!"

A group of experts looked at each other in dismay: Lü Chenglong was a renowned scholar, both at home and abroad; it was impossible for him to lie through his teeth in front of everyone.

If he says he's seen it, then he must have seen it.

But if so many technologies can be developed in just one year, how many experts must this center have, and how strong must its research capabilities be?

The key question is, why put a student in his early twenties in charge? Does Northwest University have no one else to rely on?

Wang Qizhi was his teacher and had served as the deputy director of the Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences. Why not let him take charge?

There were too many doubts, my mind was in turmoil, and I was filled with uncertainty when suddenly something bright came to mind.

Several pictures appeared on the screen, all of them porcelain.

There are bowls and cups, plates and jars, coarse porcelain and fine porcelain, porcelain shards and complete pieces.

Lin Sicheng scrolled the mouse and zoomed in on two of the images.

Upon closer inspection: In the first picture, it looks like a half-assembled blue and white porcelain plate with intertwined floral patterns, but it wasn't fired very well. The body is coarse, and there are black spots mixed in with the blue and white patterns. The color is very dark and grayish.

Everyone present was an expert; even if their focus wasn't on porcelain, they could deduce that this was a Ming or Qing dynasty folk kiln blue-and-white porcelain. It was most likely from a small workshop, relatively small in scale, and the craftsmanship was subpar.

Looking at the other picture, although it shows the base, the outline is exactly the same, clearly showing that the previous half of the plate has been flipped over.

There's another one, but only half left: Tian Shun Nian.

It seems like a character is missing; it should be "Tianshun Nianzhi"... wait a minute?

Is this Tian Shun blue and white porcelain?

Those who work in archaeology know that there are only three pieces of Tian Shun blue and white porcelain in the world: one in the Palace Museum, one in the Shanxi Museum, and one in the Hubei Museum.

So, this is the fourth one?

Even if it's just a broken piece of equipment, even if only a third of it remains...

Lin Sicheng picked up the microphone:

"In early March, the restoration center planned to study the Chengni inkstone craftsmanship in Jiang County, and my teacher and I went to Yuncheng. It happened to be the second day of the second lunar month, and the Jiexiu Guandi Temple held a temple fair. We found a piece of porcelain in the antique market, which is the base with the words 'Tianshun Nian' on it."

"After experimental comparison, both the composition of the body and glaze and the craftsmanship are completely consistent with the Ming Dynasty Tianshun blue and white Persian cylindrical incense burner in the Shanxi Museum."

"Afterwards, the shop owner who sold us the porcelain shards brought back five more baskets. After comparing them, we pieced together the half of the blue and white porcelain plate with scrolling floral pattern shown in the photo. In addition, we found several pieces of white-glazed porcelain among the remaining shards."

Lin Sicheng clicked the mouse, and several white porcelain shards appeared on the screen: the glaze was lustrous, both translucent and bright, and the body was extremely thin. Neither the body nor the glaze showed any impurities or blemishes.

They are all experts; they can tell at a glance that the complete piece is in excellent condition and the firing process is extremely high.

Lin Sicheng clicked again, and a data table appeared below the image:

"Upon identification, these porcelain fragments are dated to 900±30 years ago, from the late Northern Song Dynasty to the early Jin Dynasty. The porcelain body is composed of high-alumina, low-calcium clay, with approximately 38.54% AlO and 1% CaO."

"After reaching an agreement with the local authorities, we began collecting cultural relics. A week later, we collected twelve white-glazed bowls, two white-glazed porcelain pillows, two sancai (three-color glazed) pottery pillows, and 282 pieces of porcelain shards, including white-glazed bottles and carved plates, in Yongji City..."

"Upon examination, the seven white-glazed bowls, two white-glazed pillows, two sancai (three-color glazed) pillows, and 216 porcelain shards were all dated to 900 years ago, that is, the late Northern Song Dynasty and early Jin Dynasty. Simultaneous testing of the body and glaze composition led to further discoveries..."

As he spoke, Lin Sicheng clicked the mouse:

A porcelain pillow with poems and inscriptions, and a tricolor pillow with a child's image.

Experts see the details, while laymen just enjoy the spectacle. Many experts couldn't help but exclaim: "These porcelain pillows are quite well made!"

Director Lü and several experts from the Palace Museum squinted: How come these two items look so much like the collections in the Palace Museum?

A child's pillow resembles a child, but a pillow inscribed with poems resembles one even more?

Just as he was wondering, Lin Sicheng clicked the mouse again, and two tables appeared under the porcelain pillow.

The labels are very clear: the first image is a scatter plot of the major elemental relationships in the glaze layer of the poetry pillow, and the second image is the chemical composition of the glaze surface of the tricolor low-temperature glazed ceramic pillow.

With just one glance, Director Lü froze, then lunged forward.

The experts in the back row looked on in astonishment: No wonder they look so alike?

Looking at the relationship between the main elements and the chemical composition of the glaze, you can tell that these two items on the screen are exactly the same type of items as those in the Palace Museum's collection.

The other experts were puzzled, wondering why Director Lü was so excited. Then the screen flashed, and the image changed to another porcelain pillow with a poem on it.

Lin Sicheng smiled and said, "Director Lü, do you think you look familiar?"

Lü Chengcheng opened his mouth, but didn't know what to say.

He recognized it more than just by looking at it; he had seen the last one at the Forbidden City just two days ago.

Looking at those two ingredient lists, to put it bluntly: these two pieces in the picture, and the pieces treasured in the Palace Museum, were fired in the same kiln during the same period.

Previously, everyone at the Palace Museum believed it was produced by the Ding kiln during the Song Dynasty...

Other experts also realized that the pictures clearly showed that the two white porcelain pillows were more than just "similar".

The same body material, the same glaze color, the same white ground with carved patterns, and the same pearl-ground technique.

Even the slowest-witted person can guess the general idea: most likely, these two items on the screen are identical in composition to those in the Palace Museum's collection.

But look at the last one, isn't the first line of the poem "Porcelain from Dingzhou is still like Chuilun"?

Is the last sentence “Inscribed by Emperor Qianlong in the midsummer month of the year Wuzi”?

Then look at the expressions of Director Lü and the other experts from the Palace Museum. Don't they look like they've seen a ghost in broad daylight?

The other experts quickly guessed the general idea: from beginning to end, the experts at the Palace Museum believed that this porcelain pillow was a Ding kiln pillow!

Now, it has become the Hejin Kiln, which I've never heard of and which has no record of in historical materials.

Suddenly, the experts' expressions all turned strange.

Did they fire thin-bodied white-glazed porcelain comparable to famous Song Dynasty porcelain? They even fired a tribute pillow that Emperor Qianlong mistook for "Ding kiln" porcelain.

In this way, wouldn't the technical level of the Hejin Kiln be comparable to that of the five famous kilns of the Song Dynasty?

While we were still wondering, Lin Sicheng continued to show pictures: "After that, we continued to collect cultural relics in Yongji and searched for clues about the site. Finally, we found the site of a warehouse in the ancient city of Yongji that is suspected to be from the late Song and early Jin dynasties, used to transport porcelain from the Puzhou ferry to Xijing and Kaifeng..."

"Afterwards, we conducted an emergency excavation with the Yongji archaeological department, which unearthed more than 1,000 fragments of white-glazed carved porcelain, 374 fragments of white-glazed porcelain, and 65 complete pieces of white-glazed porcelain... There were 14 thin-walled, delicate white porcelain bowls like the one in the picture..."

"Upon identification, all artifacts were determined to be from the late Song to early Jin dynasty. Subsequent testing revealed that the composition of the body and glaze was completely consistent with the artifacts collected in the previous two collections. Specifically, the body thickness is 0.8-1mm, the hardness is 7.0, and the iron oxide content is around 0.67%. It exhibits color in a high-temperature reducing flame, selectively absorbing and scattering light to create a warm hue, with a light transmittance of 10-20%..."

After a slight pause, Lin Sicheng pointed to the last data table: "But there's one thing: besides iron and manganese, the coloring elements also include trace amounts of titanium and beryllium..."

He didn't need to emphasize it; anyone with eyes could see that the last three items in the last chart showed that ancient white-glazed porcelain, whether from the Song and Yuan dynasties or the Ming and Qing dynasties, contained less than one-third of the titanium and beryllium content shown on the chart.

But that's not the point. The point is the hardness and light transmittance: Mohs hardness 7.0, light transmittance 10-20%, body thickness 0.8mm... Not to mention the Song Dynasty, these figures even reach the level of thin-bodied porcelain from the official kilns during the Yongle and Xuande periods of the Ming Dynasty.

What happened to the previous statement that Shanxi had no kilns and no famous porcelain?

"A light transmittance of 20% is more than enough to achieve the level of 'light transmission and shadow visibility.' Even in the Song Dynasty, only one type of porcelain could achieve this level of light transmittance..."

Suddenly, a thought flashed through Lü Chengcheng's mind: "Jingdezhen Hutian Kiln Yingqing porcelain?"

Lin Sicheng really wanted to give a thumbs up: Director Lü is still the same Director Lü, hitting the nail on the head and striking at the heart of the matter!

He nodded vigorously: "Yes, Director Lü, it's the celadon porcelain from Hutian Kiln... Subsequent analysis confirmed that the firing processes of the two kilns were inherited..."

Lü Chenglong was taken aback: It's not hard to guess.

He could guess, and all the porcelain experts present could guess, because this was the only kiln that had ever fired thin-walled porcelain during the same period or even earlier.

Moreover, there is complete data.

The Hutian Kiln was first excavated in 1982, and Jingdezhen Ceramic University and Jingdezhen Ceramic Research Institute have been studying it ever since. Only a few hundred, if not a thousand, papers have been published on the subject.

By comparing the data item by item, the differences can be observed.

But being able to guess is one thing, being able to prove it is another. Because you can't just rely on data; you have to deduce the specific process and verify it against each other.

You also need to find sites with relatively complete technological chains; otherwise, even if you find tens of thousands of artifacts, their role and influence will be limited.

Thinking of this, Lü Chenglong suddenly realized: This child must have found the kiln site, otherwise today's lecture would not be about "the origin and evolution of Hejin Kiln white glaze porcelain technology".

Suddenly, his spirits lifted: "The kiln site is in Hejin?"

“Yes, Director Lü!” Lin Sicheng nodded. “We found four sites, corresponding to the Tang, Song, Jin, Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties respectively… spanning 1,100 years…”

"Tang Dynasty?"

"Yes, but it was the late Tang Dynasty!"

As he spoke, Lin Sicheng showed another picture: "This is a jade-bottomed bowl discovered at the late Tang Dynasty porcelain kiln site in Beiguqin, Hejin..."

Lu Chenglong glanced at it, a glint of light flashing in his eyes.

He finally understood why the bureau leaders had agreed to let this kid give a lecture here.

Because this is not just a bowl from the Tang Dynasty, but also a record of the Hejin kiln firing this kind of thin-walled porcelain earlier than the Hutian kiln.

The leaders were also curious to know: Was the thin-walled porcelain technique of Hutian Kiln passed down from Hejin Kiln...?